Many real systems are composed of multi-state components with different performance levels and several failure modes. These affect the whole system's performance.Most books on reliability theory cover binary models that allow a system only to function perfectly or fail completely."The Universal Generating Function in Reliability Analysis and Optimization" is the first book that gives a comprehensive description of the universal generating function technique and its applications in binary and multi-state system reliability analysis.

The aerospace community has long recognized and repeatedly emphasizes the importance of reliability for space systems. Despite this, little has been published in book form on the topic. Spacecraft Reliability and Multi-state Failures addresses this gap in the literature, offering a unique focus on spacecraft reliability based on extensive statistical analysis of system and subsystem anomalies and failures.